JPH0247068B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION ``Industrial Application Field'' The present invention relates to a connector housing, and more particularly to a terminal locking structure of a connector housing that prevents housed terminals from coming off rearward.

"Prior art" and "Problems to be solved by the invention" The terminal locking structure of the conventional connector housing is
Many devices are equipped with a primary locking mechanism that primarily locks the terminal using a lance or locking piece, and a secondary locking mechanism that fully locks the terminal in its housing position.

The secondary locking mechanism is one in which a separate member such as a spacer is inserted at the rear of the terminal to prevent it from being pulled out, and the other is a cantilever locking lid that is movable via a hinge. There are two types of devices in which the terminal is prevented from coming off by engaging the terminal with a closed locking lid.

However, the former of the conventional secondary locking mechanisms described above requires the insertion and attachment of a separate member, making the locking work troublesome, and increases the number of parts, resulting in high costs and troublesome parts management. In addition to this, there are also problems such as forgetting to insert the spacer or not inserting the spacer enough. Also,
In the latter case, the cantilevered locking lid tends to get tangled with other parts when assembling the wire harness, creating an obstacle to work, and the hinge part may be damaged due to contact interference with other parts. Moreover, the presence of the movable locking lid makes the shape unstable, which poses various problems, such as making it difficult to align and sequentially feed the connector housing for automated assembly work.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned conventional difficulties.

``Means for Solving the Problems'' The present invention achieves the above objects by ``providing a window hole in the middle of a terminal accommodating chamber, and a pair of end hinge points formed on both edges of the window hole. A locking member is provided integrally through the locking member, and the locking member includes:
The window hole portion is bridged in the shape of a mountain with one or more intermediate hinge points in the middle, and by reversing the pressure of the locking member, the intermediate hinge point is connected to the center of the end hinge point. A locking structure that prevents the terminal from retreating by reversing the locking member to the inside of the wire and engaging the locking member with the terminal.

"Examples" and "Operations" Hereinafter, the structure and operation of the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to Examples. First, with reference to FIG. 1 showing a first embodiment, the figure shows a male connector housing 1 (hereinafter simply referred to as male housing 1) in which male terminals 4 are inserted and accommodated in upper and lower terminal accommodating chambers 3. A window hole 6 is formed above or below the terminal accommodating chamber 3, and a pair of end hinge points 8 formed at the front and rear edges of the window hole 6 are inserted into the window hole 6. A locking member 7 is integrally provided as a bridge.

The locking member 7 is integrated with a front locking member 7A through an intermediate hinge point 9 provided in the middle.
and a rear locking member 7B, and the intermediate hinge point 9 is located outward from the center line 11 connecting the pair of end hinge points 8. It forms a double-folded chevron shape and is in bridge contact with the window hole portion 6. That is, the end hinge point 8 and the intermediate hinge point 9 are formed by making the resin material forming the male housing 1 thin, and forming a joint-like (pure) joint in which the members having the hinge points 8 and 9 as nodes are integrally connected so as to be relatively rotatable. The locking member 7 is not a sliding joint, but a node that allows relative rotation of the joint member by elastic deformation of the thin wall portion, and the locking member 7 connects to the window hole portion with the end hinge point 8 and the intermediate hinge point 9 as contact points. It is formed in the shape of a truss body with bridges installed at 6.

On the inside of the front locking member 7A, there is a step-shaped locking portion that comes into contact with the rear of the protrusion 15 provided on the male terminal 4 in the terminal housing chamber 3 when the locking member 7 is in an inverted position, which will be described later. 10 is formed on the outside of the front locking member 7A, and a pressing portion 12 is formed as the apex of the locking member 7 when the locking member 7 is reversed.

When the locking member 7 configured as described above presses the pressing portion 12 with a fingertip or the like, the front locking member 7A and the rear locking member 7B are moved by an external force accompanying the pressing.
The bridge installation posture is reversed by its own elastic deformation, the elastic displacement of the hinge points 8 and 9, and the elastic widening of the window hole part 6, and the window hole is closed by the locking member 7 as shown in FIG. 1C. 6 and the intermediate hinge point 9 is aligned with the center line 1 of the pair of end hinge points 8.
The locking structure is such that the locking portion 10 contacts the rear of the raised portion 15 of the male terminal 4 and secondarily locks the insertion position of the male terminal 4. has been done.

The male housing 1 of this embodiment is provided with a primary locking mechanism that engages the metal lance 14 of the male terminal 4 with a locking pawl 13 formed in the terminal accommodating chamber 3. In addition, in the lower male terminal 4 of FIG. 1A, the locking member 7 is engaged with a stepped portion 16 provided at the rear of the contact, instead of the raised portion 15 of the upper male terminal 4. The stop portion 10 is adapted to abut from the rear.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. That is, this embodiment has a female connector housing 2 (hereinafter simply referred to as female housing 2) in which three terminal accommodating chambers 3 for accommodating female terminals 5 are arranged in parallel, and a primary locking mechanism for the female terminals 5 is provided by a locking piece 17.
A locking structure with a locking member 7 is provided in a transverse manner as a secondary locking mechanism, and a single locking member 7 locks the accommodation posture of three female terminals 5. It's on.

In detail, at the top of the three terminal housing chambers 3 in parallel,
A common window hole portion 6 is formed, and the window hole portion 6 includes:
End hinge points 8 are provided on the left and right side edges of the window hole 6, and a locking member 7 is integrally bridged to the end hinge points 8.

The locking member 7 is provided with two intermediate hinge points 9 in the middle, and an end hinge point 8.
a symmetrical pair of end locking members 7C integrally connected to;
End locking member 7C via intermediate hinge point 9
The intermediate hinge point 9 is located outside the center line 11 of the end hinge point 8, as in the first embodiment. That is, the locking member 7 of this embodiment forms a truss body with a pair of end hinge points 8 and two intermediate hinge points 9 as sliding joints, and is bridged across the window hole 6 in a transverse manner. be.

Then, when the intermediate hinge point 9 on one side of the main locking member 7D is pressed, the end locking member 7C on one side rotates around its own end hinge point 8 and reverses as shown in FIG. 2C. When the main locking member 7D is displaced and then the other side of the main locking member 7D is pressed, the hinge points 8 and 9 and the locking member 7C7D are moved as shown in FIG. 2D and E.
Due to the elastic deformation of and the elastic widening of the window hole 6, the entire locking member 7 is reversed, and the intermediate hinge point 9 is reversely displaced to the inside of the center line 11 of the end hinge point 8. Then, the main locking member 7 is reversed.
The front end edge of D contacts the stepped portion 16 of the female terminal 5 from behind, and is configured to prevent the female terminal 5 from coming off.

Note that the front and rear edges of the window hole portion 6 in this embodiment are as follows:
The height is varied so that the locking member 7 can be easily removed from the mold when integrally molded.

The connector housing of the present invention having the above configuration is as follows:
A locking member 7 is integrally connected to the window hole part 6 through a hinge-shaped end hinge point 8 at both ends and has one or more intermediate hinge points 9 in the shape of a bridge. , the terminals in the connector housing are locked by reversing the pressure of the locking member 7, so the restoring moment remaining between the end hinge point 8 and the intermediate hinge point 9 of the locking member 7 after reversal is It is extremely small and the inverted posture of the locking member 7 is stable.

Therefore, even if an external force is applied to the terminals 4 and 5 to pull them out, the external force will cause the locking member 7 to return to its original state.
There is no risk of losing the locking posture to the terminals 4 and 5, and the locking performance is extremely stable.

Furthermore, since the locking member 7 is extremely easily reversed and displaced with a "snap" by simply pressing, the secondary locking operation of the terminal becomes a one-touch operation, and the locking work is extremely easy compared to the conventional structure described above. It becomes easier.

In addition, since the locking member 7 has a bridging structure integrally formed on both edges of the window hole portion 6, it solves the problems of the prior art based on separate members, and also has a regularized shape. Since there is less entanglement and interference with other parts, it improves work efficiency when assembling the wire harness, and it also makes it easier to align and sequentially feed the connector housing, making it easier to assemble the wire harness in series, including automatic insertion of terminals into the connector housing. There are advantages such as promoting automation of assembly.

Further, in the connector housing of the first embodiment, the locking member 7 is provided as a bridge in the front-rear direction of the terminal 4, and the front locking member 7A comes into contact with the protrusion 15 of the terminal 4 so as to push it from behind. Therefore, when the amount of insertion of the terminal 4 is insufficient, a component force is generated to advance the terminal 4, and there is a special effect of automatically correcting the half-insertion posture of the terminal 4.

In addition, in the connector housing of the second embodiment, the locking member 7 descends and inverts from above the terminal 4, so that when the amount of insertion of the terminal 4 is insufficient, the locking member 7 is attached to the stepped portion of the terminal 4 that is insufficiently inserted. 16 and cannot be reversed, and a faulty insertion terminal can be detected.

Note that the amount of reversal of the locking member 7 in the above configuration of the present invention is such that the position of the intermediate hinge point 9 before and after reversal is approximately equal from the center line 11 of the end hinge point 8 in view of the stability of the reversal posture. Preferably in quantity.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a structure in which the locking member 7 having a single intermediate hinge point structure shown in the first embodiment is installed as a bridge on the left and right side edges of the window hole 6, or the locking member 7 having a single intermediate hinge point configuration shown in the first embodiment is installed as a bridge between the plurality of intermediate hinge points shown in the second embodiment. Locking member 7 with point configuration
are installed on the front and rear edges of the window hole 6 to lock one or more terminals, or the terminal housing chambers of the connector housing are divided into groups, and each group has a single intermediate hinge point locking member. 7 and a plurality of intermediate hinge points 9 can be provided to prevent the terminals from retreating in each group.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, the connector housing of the present invention has
Terminal locking work becomes easy, which improves terminal insertion workability, stabilizes terminal locking performance, and further improves wire harness assembly workability and promotes wire harness assembly automation. It has many effects such as

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1: Shows the connector housing of the first embodiment of the present invention, A is its front view, B is its top view, C
is a front view of the locking member inverted, and the second
Figures: Showing the connector housing of the second embodiment of the present invention, A is a front view thereof, B is a side view thereof, C is a side view showing its function, D is a front view with the locking member inverted, E is a side view with the locking member inverted Main symbols: 1: Male connector housing, 2:
Female connector housing, 3: Terminal accommodation chamber, 4:
Male terminal, 5: Female terminal, 6: Window hole, 7: Locking member, 8: End hinge point, 9: Intermediate hinge point, 11: Center line of end hinge point, 1
2: Pressing portion, 15: Protruding portion, 16: Step portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A window hole portion is provided in the terminal accommodating chamber, and the window hole portion is integrated through a pair of end hinge points on both edges of the window hole portion, and has one or more intermediate hinges in the middle. A locking member having a point and forming a chevron is provided as a bridge, and when the locking member is pressed and reversed, the intermediate hinge point is reversely displaced inside the center line of the pair of end hinge points. . A connector housing characterized by a locking structure for engaging the locking member with a terminal.